Fydzhin (Ossetian Meat Pie) is a traditional South Ossetian recipe for a classic circular meat pie with a lightly spiced mixed minced meat and onion filling. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South Ossetian version of: Ossetian Meat Pie (Fydzhin).
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Fydzhin is one of the more popular Ossetian pies. It's typically prepared with either a beef filling or a mix of beef and pork or beef and lamb. This meat filled pie is similar to Svanetian Kubdari (Georgian: კუბდარი) but uses minced meat instead of finely-chopped meat.
The national dish of South Ossetia is the Ossetian pie, most famously served as a set of three round pies. These large, flat-crusted baked pies feature various savory fillings like local cheese, meat, potatoes, or beetroot leaves, holding deep cultural and ritual significance.
Ingredients:
For filling:
800g minced beef
400g minced pork
3 onions
4–5 cloves garlic
1 hot red chilli
1/2 tsp of freshly-ground black pepper
300ml of beef stock
salt, to taste
Ingredients for dough:
1.3kg of flour (includes 300g for dusting and kneading)
500ml of warm water or milk
30g of butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
Method:
Begin by preparing the pastry: Add 1 kilo of flour to a mixing bowl, forming a well in the centre. Add the 600ml of warm water or milk, 30g of melted butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of salt. Mix the ingredients hand to form a dough. Knead for a few minutes until soft and elastic then shaped into a soft ball.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes to rest. Once the dough has risen, add 150 grams of flour and firmly knead the dough so that it's fully incorporated.
For the filling: Add combine the minced beef and minced pork in a mixing bowl. Finely chop the onions, chilli and garlic and add to the bowl, together with half tsp of black pepper. Season with salt to taste then mix all the ingredients until evenly distributed.
Add 230ml of beef stock. Squeeze and mix the ingredients by hand until thoroughly blended. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes before using.
Dust a preparation board with flour and divide the dough into 2 large and 2 smaller balls. The larger pieces will form the base and sides for each of the two pastries and the smaller pieces will form the covers.
Roll out the 2 larger pieces to 5mm depth. Grease the base and sides of two circular pie dishes (about 26–28cm in diameter) with butter then fill with the rolled out pastry bases. Use your fingers to press the pastry into the base and sides of the pie dishes.
Add one half of the filling to each baking dish. Use a wooden soon to compress the filling, ensuring that mixture is pressed into the sides.
Roll out the two smaller pieces of dough to 2-3mm thick and in each make a circular hole in the middle and four slits.
Carefully place the set over the baking dish. Use your palms and thumbs to mould the pastry around the dish then crimp the edges with the tines of a fork and trim off any excess with a sharp knife.
Transfer the pies to the centre of an oven pre-heated to 200C. After 15 minutes baking, add 3 tbs of stock to the holes in the centre of the pastry.
Brush the top of each pie with a glaze made from the yolk of one egg mixed with tsp of milk.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180C and continue to bake until the pastry is golden (about 15 minutes more).
Rub the tops of the baked pies with butter and serve immediately.
In Ossetia, the top of the pastry is removed and cut into strips, which are then dipped into the meat juices. The meat and remaining pastry is eaten with a fork.
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